What steps do I take to find out if my adrenals are affected?

1) Do the Discovery Steps on the Adrenals page, and there’s even more in Chapter 5 of the revised STTM book. 2) If your answers are suspicious, the next important step is a 24 hour cortisol saliva test, NOT blood, which you can order here. Serum blood cortisol does NOT give the right answer.

My doctor says my cortisol saliva results are normal. Are they?

Probably not. Normal has nothing to do with “falling in a particular range”, and many doctors don’t get that yet. Go here. Plus, we’ve learned it’s not about blood testing. This explains.

What do I need to avoid before doing a saliva test?

Can I treat what I think is low cortisol without doing the 24 hour saliva test?

Only with great risk. High cortisol can have the same symptoms as low cortisol, and you treat each differently. You can order a saliva kit here without a prescription—see My Med Lab.

Can I treat my low cortisol without HC (hydrocortisone with the brand name of Cortef)??

We’ve learned that treatment depends on the saliva results. Serious low cortisol seems to need HC, but in a certain way. Moderately low cortisol can be helped with Adrenal Cortex (ACE), but in a certain way. Some with only low morning can be helped with the T3CM. There is wisdom in all this.

DEPRESSION:

Why do I have depression and what can I do about it?

Low Free T3 can be implicated in depression. Read this. Low cortisol can make the depression worse.

Is it true that my anti-depressant can make my hypothyroid worse?

Yes, with some anti-depressants. And that is also true of higher doses of lithium.

DESICCATED THYROID:

Why would natural desiccated thyroid be better for me?

Clear answerw found here and read Chapter 2 for more details in the book. Patient experiences worldwide have proven it’s better. It’s giving you what a healthy thyroid would be!

Why did I feel worse on desiccated thyroid or T3?

What desiccated thyroid brands can I take?

What about adding synthetic T3 to synthetic T4?

Patients report better results with NDT, but if you want to use the two synthetics, go for it! We still attempt to get the free T3 towards the top of the range.

DETOXING, CHELATION, CLEANSES to remove heavy metals:

Is it best to wait until I am no longer hypo and feeling good on natural thyroid before I do any heavy metal detoxing/chelation or cleanses?

Detoxing heavy metals seems to cause two things in us: rising RT3, and/or adrenal stress. It’s individual. So it’s best to make sure we don’t have low cortisol before detoxing. If we do have low cortisol as revealed by saliva testing, we give ourselves cortisol in the right way. If we have good adrenal function when we decide to detox, we support our adrenals with adaptogens. And finally, many of us have to lower NDT and raise T3 while detoxing to stop the RT3 rise.

FDA and DESICCATED THYROID:

What’s going on with desiccated thyroid and the FDA?

HAIR LOSS

Why does my hair keep falling out?

HASHIMOTOS DISEASE:

What is Hashimotos disease?

It’s all here and has a chapter of its own on the book. It’a an autoimmune problem that causes thyroid issues.

What’s the best way for me to treat my Hashi’s?

Answer found here. It’s about going gluten free for ‘most’ and using certain supplements and strategies. Even iodine use has HELPED Hashi’s patients, contrary to the poor info you can hear from others.

I have Hashi’s and sometimes I feel really hyper, and other times hypo. Why?

Is it true that Selenium can help me with Hashi’s?

What labs do I need to find out if I have Hashi’s?

Any other questions about Hashi’s, including avoiding gluten for many, can be found here.

IODINE:

Is iodine right for me?

For most people, the answer seems to be YES. Read about iodine here. Two Iodine groups here. The STTM book also gives information.

Can I just start supplementing with iodine?

Patients have found it wiser to do the Iodine Loading test first to see if needed. Info here.

Why are some people so adamantly against iodine?

Because… 1) some people are more into “strong opinion” than all the huge amount of patient experiences and success with iodine use. 2) some had a bad reaction because they didn’t learn about the companion nutrients to be taken first. Join the iodine groups and ask questions.

IRON

Why is iron so important?

All the reasons are talked about here. Without adequate, we will tend to have issues raising NDT or T3.

Do I treat sex hormone separately from thyroid and adrenals?

What is PCOS?

SUPPLEMENTS and OVER-THE-COUNTER:

What supplements do other thyroid patients take?To see examples, go here. There is a also an excellent chapter on supplements and good foods in the Revised Second Edition book. Read about selenium here.

Do the adrenal and thyroid glandular extracts I see in health food stores have sufficient hormones in them to be of use? To some degree they do, and can be worth a try in a pinch. But most all of them either don’t have enough, or are not consistent from bottle to bottle, or have other ingredients you may not want long-term in order to take enough to feel better, or contain adrenaline, which you do not want. One OTC adrenal support to consider is Isocort.

STILL FEELING BAD:

Why am I still fat, depressed, having problems, and more while on my thyroid treatment??

You are probably making mistakes in your treatment, as is your doctor. More in the book.

T3-ONLY:

Why would someone be on T3-only instead of desiccated thyroid?

Too much RT3 and the important need to lower it, though many lower it by being on a small dose on NDT with T3.

Is it okay for me to be on T3 long-term, or even for the rest of my life? Y

Yes, some have noted, if they need to be.

I’m on T3 and a high dose, yet I still feel bad with hair loss, fatigue, etc. Why?

Why do I not tolerate T3?

Same as right above–the “this page”

Does T3-only have an side-effects?

Yes. In many, it has raised the Sex Hormone Binding Globulin, which can lower sex hormones. Patients counter that by raising their bioidentical sex hormone treatment. Do work with your doctor! This is just information.

How do I dose T3-only?

NOT 5-6 times a day, as we used to think. We dose it according to your body’s signs and symptoms that you need each dose i.e. when we start to feel sluggish, or heartrate goes up, or BP goes up, etc. So many start with a morning dose, then do the second and third (or subsequent doses) as their bodies tell them it’s time to take it. For many, the latter is approximate every fours hours, but can vary. Dosing only 3 times a day instead of 5 has proven more beneficial for many.

THYROID CANCER

My doctor says once my thyroid is taken out, I’ll just be on one pill. What is that and does it work?

Usually, surgeons are going to put their patients on Synthroid or Levoxyl…and patients aren’t happy. That’s why they will fight to put on NDT after the surgery, but also need to make sure their adrenals are ok.

Where do I learn all about thyroid cancer and it’s many angles?

This page shows all the different pages about thyroid cancer. STTM has excellent info!

TSH:

Why does this site criticize the TSH lab test?

For very good reasons as revealed by patient experiences since the turn of the 21st century. Go here or the entire chapter on the TSH in the book called Thyroid Stimulating Hooey!

Why does my TSH lab result say I’m hyper (i.e. it’s very low)?

We have noted that when getting ‘towards’ our optimal dose of NDT or T3, our TSH lab test will fall below range. That is not hyper. A suppressed TSH lab test with Graves disease is hyper. That is different from our suppressed TSH.

But what if I have a very low TSH with hyper-like symptoms?

That is where we test the Graves antibodies, or if we know we are hypothyroid without Graves disease, the hyper-like symptoms can be from having inadequate iron or a cortisol problem.

What if I have a very low TSH and a low free T3?

That is one of the best ways to pay attention to the TSH, we have found, because it can point to hypopituitary or be in the hyper swing of hashimotos. See above.

Again, unlike Graves disease which can cause those problems, our low TSH does NOT. To the contrary, our optimal dose of NDT or T3 (which happens to results in a very low TSH) has IMPROVED our hearts and bone.

T4-ONLY MEDS LIKE SYNTHROID:

THE STTM WEBSITE and BOOKS:

Why the books?

Patients requested the books because it’s easier to keep up with the information than facing a computer screen, and they can take it into the doctor’s office and get better response from their doctors. Second, some of what is in the books is not on the website, and vice versa. They compliment each other. P.S. watch for humor in the Glossary of the revised STTM book

What’s the difference between the revised STTM book (STTM I) and the STTM II book?

How can I keep up with anything Janie adds to the Stop the Thyroid Madness website?

WHO IS JANIE BOWTHORPE?

Janie is simply a thyroid patient just like you who lived an absolutely miserable life on T4 for years. And because she’s rebellious and a fighter, and thanks to the internet, she found out about desiccated thyroid. It hugely changed her life. Janie started the yahoo group Natural Thyroid Hormone users the same year, 2002 which still exists today as an alternative to the Facebook discussion groups.

And from the NTH group plus other groups she created or has been associated with, patients gained an immense body of information about better labwork, adrenal fatigue, low iron, low B12, gluten issues, and so much more. It was so profound that Janie created this patient-to-patient website, Stop the Thyroid Madness™ in Dec. 2015, then the books, as a way to educate patients who in turn can take the information into their doctors offices. And it’s working, doctor by doctor! In fact, the information on STTM is where many other “advocates” get their information (but aren’t going to tell you so. lol)

But we still have a long way to go. Luckily, it’s the Mothership of Reported Patient Experiences, i.e. Stop the Thyroid Madness, which is creating change everywhere because it’s totally based on years of reported patient experiences.

Important note: STTM is an information-only site based on what many patients worldwide have reported in their treatment and wisdom over the years. This is not to be taken as personal medical advice, nor to replace a relationship with your doctor. By reading this information-only website, you take full responsibility for what you choose to do with this website's information or outcomes. See the Disclaimer and Terms of Use.

Click on the title below to go to the STTM Facebook page

Stop the Thyroid Madness was one of the 2016 Winner Blogs

Laughing Grape Publishing books

The 2019 updated revision of "Stop the Thyroid Madness: A Patient Revolution Against Decades of Inferior Treatment"

"STTM II"--each chapter contributed by a doctor

"Hashimoto's: Taming the Beast"

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We need to talk about the coronavirus, aka COVID-19. Hardly anyone hasn't heard about the new version of a Coronavirus, aka COVID-19, which is a novel and pretty serious virus that seems to have originated in Wuhan China. As I…